


Between Memories

by Pidge



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 03:10:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3234059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pidge/pseuds/Pidge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a continuation of Between Sisters</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between Memories

There was nothing left in that place. Nothing but reminders of the death and destruction. Nothing but memories.The reconstruction process was going to be long and arduous. A wall surrounded what was left of the Yeerk pool. After the war, it was used as notice board full of missing people. As time went on, it became a makeshift memorial for the dead. There was nothing left there for Jordan or her family.

So they went east.

There wasn’t a firm that didn’t want to hire Naomi. She wasted no time getting back to work. It was easier to focus on work. She didn’t have to think about how she had one less daughter now.

Dan was still in Colorado. He visited often. His visits had always been strained, especially between him and Naomi. Now his visits were full of silence. Rachel had always been his favorite. 

Jordan didn’t mind that fact. She knew she could never fill that hole. No matter how hard she tried, she would never be as good as Rachel. 

**

As autumn rolled around, Jordan started her new high school. She had lived her whole life in one place and it was strange to start over now. Growing up, she always had been excited to share a school with Rachel. But Rachel was gone. Sara was still in middle school. Jordan was all alone here.

It was hard to be strong sometimes.

The war was only months old. There was no escaping from it. Not even at school. Too many people paid attention to her when they heard her name or recognized her face from the photos of Rachel’s memorial. Too many people asked questions that she wanted to avoid. Too many asked about Rachel the Hero. Rachel the Warrior. Rachel the Animorph.

No one wanted to hear about Rachel the Sister.

**

As the months went by, Sara grew out her blonde hair. She looked so similar to Rachel now. Sara loved the attention.

Jordan hated her for that. But she wasn’t sure if she was mad at Sara for using their sister to get attention. Or because, more than anything, Jordan wished she could be like Rachel in some small way. 

One night, Jordan studied her reflection in the mirror. Her dark hair and dark eyes had no semblance to her sister. Even the smattering of freckles betrayed her. She knew she would never look like Rachel.

With that acceptance, she grabbed scissors from her desk and returned to the mirror. Before she could change her mind, she chopped off a large section of her hair and dropped it into the sink. She continued until she formed her hair into a hasty pixie cut. She grinned at the finished product. 

There wouldn’t be any more hiding from herself.

Naomi did not grin when she got home late and saw Jordan. She simply looked at her daughter, the daughter that looked so much like her, and she pulled her close, “It needs a little trimming in the back. Let’s fix that.”

The two returned to the mirror.

**

On the anniversary of Rachel’s death, the three of them flew back to California. For the rest of the world, it marked the end of the war. A war that many didn’t even know existed until the last days. For Jordan, the day only marked when she lost her sister.

There were people meandering around the memorial with the ocean as its backdrop. Naomi and Sara walked up together and set the bouquet of red helichrysum and some stones onto the memorial. The two stood in silence.

Jordan stood a little further back. She made sure none of the strangers would interrupt her mother and sister. She had to take care of them.

"Hi, Jordan." 

Jordan turned to Cassie. The strangers quickly took notice of one of the surviving Animorphs and a few started to close in. Jordan stood a little taller and squared her shoulders. She glared at one of the closest strangers and they shuffled away. No one would interrupt her family on this day.

"Hi, Cassie."

**

Jordan’s sixteenth birthday was hard. Every birthday without Rachel was hard but her sixteenth birthday only reminded her of the last birthday her sister had. The birthday before Rachel died.

Her seventeenth birthday was the hardest.

She was older than her sister would ever be. 

**

The war was always there. There were movies and interviews and books. History had been made. The world had changed. It was hard to escape from it all. 

As the years went by, it became a little easier. People didn’t remember Rachel as easily. The name Berenson only brought questions about Jake. The greatest hero in the world. 

Jordan didn’t mind. She had met a boy. He knew not to ask too many questions about Rachel. He was sweet. He was kind. 

They broke up right before graduation. 

**

Jake was missing. So was Marco. 

The news of their disappearance was constant at the beginning. There was speculation from everyone. There was barely an official word about what had happened. 

Jordan didn’t know if Jake was alive. For that, she felt like she failed Rachel. Jordan hadn’t been able to look out for Jake. He disappeared under her watch.

When she would meet up with Cassie, Jordan would ask about Jake. About his disappearance. Cassie would answer vaguely. Jordan could tell Cassie knew what happened. Jordan knew what it was like to keep a secret like that.

Jordan was still keeping her sister’s secret.

**

The years went by. Jordan graduated high school. She went to college back in California. It was her home, no matter what. She had a few boyfriends and girlfriends throughout the years but none of them stayed around.

None of them understood what it meant to be a Berenson. It seemed as if they were an endangered species. So many of them were lost in the war. So many cousins gone.

Jordan graduated from college. A week later, she moved back to her hometown. She was determined to make something better out of the destruction and she wanted to be a part of the rebirth.

She had her own job to do.

**

It was a beautiful summer day for Sara’s graduation. 

When the blonde girl walked across the stage to accept her diploma, Jordan clapped for her little sister. Her little sister, full of bravado and confidence. Full of love and loyalty. Her little sister full of Rachel.

There was a bit of Rachel in both of them.

**

Jordan continued to live her life. 

There were so many good moments. Jordan found someone to share her life. A beautiful woman with wild red curls, full of curiosity and excitement over the changes in technology. The possibilities that came after the war.

The two of them understood each other. Both had been touched by the war. Both were determined to bring life back to their hometown.

They married in a small ceremony near the ocean.

Afterwards, Jordan stopped at Rachel’s memorial.

She smiled and whispered, “I promised.”


End file.
